In Nagpur, the Chief Minister backed Pawar’s idea. “Rajivji was born in Mumbai and had stayed there too,” he said. He rejected Gadkari’s claim that the project had been conceived during the Sena-BJP regime and that Savarkar’s name had been decided.

Raj Thackeray said a state leader’s name is more apt but a more pressing issue is the need to scrap the toll on motorists using the link. The controversy over the name smacks of “stupidity” and has been raked up to divert attention, he said at the launch of marathimaya.com, a Marathi magazine-cum-website.

CPI leader Prakash Reddy demanded toll exemption for BEST buses. He said Pawar’s suggestion was “a public display of his helplessness” but naming the structure after Kanhoji Angre would inspire the young.

(Inputs from ENS, Mumbai and Nagpur)